The Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative School Board voted Tuesday night to accept the district’s opening plan, after protracted debate and significant amendments to the original text.
The amended plan removed the option of remote learning during Levels 1 and 2 of the school being open, changed mask guidance to make them optional outdoors under Level 2, and amended the quarantine and isolation section of the plan to include language about following Department of Health and Human Services guidelines due to how often the guidance in this area changes.
The plan itself calls for the district to operate in one of three Levels, depending on transmission risk. Currently, the district will begin school in Level 1, which makes masking optional and calls for three feet of social distancing wherever possible except for the lunch room.
The decision on when to move between these Levels was delegated to Superintendent Peter Weaver, based on numbers for Hillsborough County.
The plan, which almost did not get passed due to debate around the key points of the plan and discussion about whether the district required a plan at all, is scheduled to be revisited and potentially edited heavily at the next board meeting on Sept. 28.
The question of masking dominated much of the discussion. Weaver reported that in a district survey, 20% of 278 respondents said they would choose not to send their child to school if masks were mandated, while 10% said they would do the same if masks were not mandated. Many members of the board expressed concern about how these students would receive an education, but ultimately left that issue up to the choices of district parents.
Many parents commented publicly on the remote learning option, advocating for it to be removed from the plan, as it eventually was. “There’s no way you can convince me that having an option to do remote is beneficial to anyone,” said Alyssa Lavoie of Lyndeborough.
“Most of our kids don’t thrive in that environment, in fact they struggle,” Weaver said of remote learning. The emphasis of all the guidance from health organizations, he pointed out, is that children should be in school, in-person, five days a week.
The board also discussed removing the option of lockers, because kids will gather too close to each other. Board chair Alex LoVerme expressed concern about this due to how heavy books are and the strain that would place on children’s physical health.
“If we’re going to get rid of lockers because we don’t want kids gathering, we need to get rid of books,” LoVerme said.
The board decided that for now, only sixth-graders will have access to lockers at the middle school.
With the edited plan in place, school will begin Monday in Level 1, with masks being optional.